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Bay Area-raised, Nashville-based singer-songwriter and guitar phenom Grace Bowers joined us in Guitar Center Hollywood’s Platinum & Vintage Room to demonstrate and reflect on her go-to instrument: the Gibson SG.
“My second guitar was a knockoff SG. It looked like if you tried to draw an SG from memory and failed. I’ve always been drawn to one. I used to be a huge AC/DC fan when I was little, so that probably had an influence on me.
“Besides that, I can’t point to any SG players I wanted to sound or look like. The SG just felt nice, and I liked the way it sounded.”
In her hands, we like the way it sounds, too—the perfect platform for Bowers’ bluesy, funky, rock- and soul-infused sonic musings. Gibson also seems to agree, having worked with the guitarist since she was 14 years old.
Bowers’ Gibson Custom Murphy Lab SG
“I was playing a legit 1961 Gibson SG for a while—beautiful guitar. I loved it. But I felt like I was always fighting to play it. Old guitars have a lot of issues. I tried out this Murphy Lab, which is in my hands right now, and it feels like an old guitar, but it plays like a new one. Also, the humbuckers versus the P-90s in my other one fit my sound better.”
Bowers spends the majority of her time in the middle pickup position for rhythm, using the guitar’s volume knobs to adjust the blend of bridge and neck to taste. It works great for her solo tone as well, but she’ll also employ the neck pickup on its own for smoother, silkier lead lines.
Sonically, “You can get a little bit of everything if you know how to work the volume and tone knobs enough.”
Bowers Plays a Vintage 1961 Gibson SG With Sideways Vibrola
Bowers pulled out a guitar from Guitar Center Hollywood’s vintage inventory: a 1961 Gibson SG featuring a sideways Vibrola bridge.
Comparing it to her Murphy Lab model, “They feel very similar,” she notes. “This one has a slimmer neck, for sure. I’m definitely not used to the sideways Vibrola, but other than that, I feel like they sound similar.”
Her Dream SG
“If I could design my own SG, I would probably take the one I already have, and if there is some way to make my whammy bar sound like a Floyd Rose—without looking like one—that would be so cool. Custom inlays would look cool, if it had lightning bolts or something like that. I don’t really have a whole lot of modifications I would make to it—I would keep it as-is for the most part.”
What’s Next for Grace Bowers?
At only 19 years old, Bowers’ résumé is already stacked. She played at the 2023 Crossroads Guitar Festival, won Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2024 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards and performed with Coldplay’s Chris Martin at the 2025 Grammy Awards ceremony. She’s released her debut album, Wine on Venus, made multiple television appearances and accomplished much during her meteoric rise.
But Bowers is far from an “overnight” success, with credit going to her work ethic, talent and passion. As she continues to push herself creatively, this is seemingly only the beginning for the young artist.
In just the past couple of years, “I’ve learned how to sing,” she says, “which has been a big hurdle for me, but a necessary one.” Grateful for the experience earned by playing in others’ bands, “Ultimately, I knew that’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I wanna be my own artist, and to do that, I had to learn how to sing. It’s still a work in progress—I’m still learning.”
Her biggest accomplishment to date? “Getting on stage and being the frontperson has changed my life. That’s definitely been my biggest accomplishment so far.”